A   Ioab the sonne of Zaruia perceaued, that the kynges hert was towarde Absal&obar;, ∧ he sent to Thekoa, and fett thence a wyse woman, and sayde vnto her: fayne thy selfe to be a mourner, and put on mournynge apparell. And anoynt not thy self with oyle. but be as a woman that had longe tyme mourned for some deed bodye. And come to the kynge, and speake of thys maner vnto hym. And so Ioab taught her what she shuld saye

And when the woman of Thekoa had fallen on her face to the grounde, and done obeysaunce, she sayde vnto the kynge: helpe me O kynge. B   The kynge sayde vnto her: what ayleth the? She answered: I am a wedowe, and myne husbande is deed. And thy handmayde had two sonnes, and they two fought together in the felde,) where was no man to go betwene them) but the one smote the other and slewe hym. And beholde, the whole kynred is rysen agaynst thy handmayde, and they sayd: ^note delyuer vs him that smote hys brother: that we maye kyll hym &rhand; for þe; soule of his brother whome he slue. We will destroye the heyre also. And so they shall quenche my sparkle whych is left, that he shall stere vp (to my husb&abar;de) nether name ner issue vp&obar; þe; erth. And the kynge sayde vnto the woman: go home to thyne house, I wyll geue a charge for the. C   And the woman of Thekoa sayde vnto the kynge: My Lorde O kynge, thys trespace be on me and on my fathers house, and the kynge and hys seate be giltlesse. And the kynge sayd: yf any man saye ought vnto the, bryng hym to me, and he shall hurte the no moare. Then sayde she: &rhand; lett the kynge remember hys Lorde God, that the auenger of the bloude geather not on heapes together to destroye, and that they slaye not my sonne. And he answered: as sure as the Lorde lyueth ^note there shall not one heere of thy sonne fall to the erthe.

D   The woman sayde: let thyne handmayde Absalom speake one worde moare vnto my Lorde þe; kynge. And he sayde: saye on. The woman sayde: wherfore th&ebar; hast þu; determined such a thyng agaynst þe; people of God? For þe; kyng doth speake this thynge as one which is fautye, that he shulde not fett agayne hys banesshed. For we must nedes dye, ∧ perysh as water spylt on the grounde, which c&abar;not be geathered vp agayne: &rhand; Neither doth God spare any soule. Let the kynge therfore fynde þe; meanes, þt; hys banysshed be not vtterly expelled fr&obar; hym. Nowe therfore am I come, to speake of this thing vnto the kynge my Lorde: For they þt; be of the people, haue feared me. And thy h&abar;dmayde sayde: Nowe wyll I speake vnto þe; kyng, parauenture the kynge will perfourme þe; request of his handmayde. E   And the kinge shall heare his handmayde, to delyuer her out of the hande of the man that wolde haue destroyed me and also my sonne out of þe; enheritaunce of God. And thyne handmayde sayde: the worde of my Lorde the kynge shall nowe be confortable? For my Lorde the kynge is as an Angel of God, in hearyng of good and badd: therfore the Lorde thy God be with the.

Then the kynge answered, ∧ sayde vnto þe; woman: hyde not from me (I praye the) the thynge that I shall aske the: And the wom&abar; sayde: let my Lorde the kyng nowe saye on. And the kynge sayde: Is not the &rhand; h&abar;de of Ioab wyth the in all this matter? The woman answered, and sayde: ^note as sure as thy soule lyueth my Lorde kynge, there is els no man on the ryght hande nor on the leaft) but as my Lorde the kynge hath spoken, thy seruaunt Ioab he bad me, and he put all these wordes in the mouthe of thyne handmayde. For to the intent that I shulde alter my c&obar;municacy&obar;, hath thy serua&ubar;t Ioab done this thinge. And my Lord is wise, eu&ebar; as an Angell of God, to vnderstand all thynges that are in the erthe. And the kynge sayde vnto Ioab beholde, I am cont&ebar;t to do this thing. Go, and fett home the chylde Absal&obar; agayne. And Ioab fell to the grounde on his face, and bowed hym selfe, F   ∧ &rhand; blessed the kynge And Ioab sayde: nowe thy seruaunt knoweth, that I haue founde grace in thy syght (my Lorde O kynge) in that the kynge hath fulfylled the request of hys seruaunt. And so Ioab arose, and w&ebar;t to Gesur, and brought Absalom to Ierusalem. And the kyng sayd: let him turne to hys awne house, and not se my face. And so Absalom returned to hys awne house, and sawe not the kynges face.

But in all Israel there was not so goodlye a m&abar; as Absal&obar;, for he was very bewtifull: &ibar; so moche þt; fr&obar; þe; sole of his fote to þe; toppe of his heed, there was no blemeshe in him. And wh&ebar; he shaued hys heed (for at euery yeares end he shaued it, because þe; heer was heute on

Absalom hym and must nedes shaue it) the heere of his heed wayed two hundred cycles after the kynges weyght. G   And this Absal&obar; had thre sonnes borne him and one daughter, named Thamar, whyche was afayre, wom&abar; to loke vp&obar;. So Absalom dwelt two yere in Ierusalem, ∧ sawe not the kynges face. Therfore Absal&obar; sent for Ioab, to haue sent hym to the kinge. But he wolde not come to him. And whan he sent agayne, he wolde not come. Therfore he sayde vnto hys seruauntes: beholde, Ioab hath a parcell of lande fast by my place, and he hath barlye therin. Go, and set it on fire. And Absaloms seruauntes sett it on fyre. (And Ioabs seruauntes came wyth theyr garm&ebar;tes rent, and sayde: Absaloms seruauntes haue burnt the pece of lande wyth fyre.)

Then Ioab arose ∧ came to Absal&obar; vnto his house, ∧ sayde vnto him: wherfore haue thy seruauntes burnt my felde wyth fyre. And Absalom answered Ioab: beholde, I sent for the, desyringe the to come, because I wolde haue sent the to þe; kinge, for to saye: wherfore am I come from Gesur. It had bene better for me, to haue bene there styll. Nowe therfore, wolde I se the kynges face. And yf there be any trespace in me, kyll thou me. And so Ioab came to the kynge, ∧ tolde him: whych whan he had sent for Absalom, he came to the kynge, and fell to the grounde on hys face before hym. And the kynge kyssed Absalom.

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